Mobile communications devices such as mobile phones and mobile phone equipped data devices have become ubiquitous. For many, the mobile communications device is a vital tool for their daily lives. Mobile communications devices enable users to place and receive calls without restriction on the user's own mobility. However, users place and receive calls during situations where the call is a hindrance, particularly when driving a vehicle. When driving a vehicle, the user must manipulate the controls of the vehicle while also handling and manipulating the controls of the mobile communications device.
To address the problem of the user being required to simultaneously handle both the manual aspects of driving a vehicle and the manual aspects of using a mobile communications device to place and receive calls, hands-free functionality has been developed. The hands-free functionality allows the user to put the mobile communications device into a hands-free mode so that the user can place and receive calls without having to manually deal with the mobile communications device. The user is free to manipulate the controls of the vehicle without interference from the mobile communications device. The hands-free functionality may be exclusively included in the phone, such as speaker phone mode, may be a cradle based system that provides a physical connection of the mobile communications device to systems that allow for hands-free functions, or may be a wireless connection such as a BLUETOOTH® connection.
While the hands-free mode of operation is helpful to a driver of a vehicle, in most cases the driver must choose that the hands-free mode become active. While some users may devotedly make such a choice, others may not. Even when the hands-free mode is an option, some users may not use it when they driver either because they forget or because they simply disregard the feature. Thus, the safety and convenience benefits of hands-free mode are lost in those cases.
Furthermore, in some cases the hands-free mode may be configured between a hands-free system and multiple mobile communications devices present in a vehicle. The mobile communications device of the passenger may enter hands free mode while the mobile communications device of the driver remains in the normal, hands-required mode. Thus, the hands-free mode that is available in that situation is not being used to satisfy the ultimate need of allowing the driver to focus on driving the vehicle.
Additionally, vehicles have many features that may have various settings. For example, the position of the seat, the steering wheel, the pedals and so forth may be adjusted to suit the driver. For some vehicles, these settings may be set and later recalled so that the driver is not required to adjust the settings when another driver has previously used the vehicle. However, the driver must remember to activate the proper feature settings unless the vehicle has the ability to detect the driver by using a key fob or a biometric method.